How Does a Cleaning Business Operate?

Expenses

The great thing about a cleaning business is that its expenses are minimal compared to most businesses. A cleaning business can be run out of a home with just a separate phone line for receiving and confirming appointments. That means there is no office to rent or extra electric bill to pay. The biggest expense for a cleaning business would be the cleaning supplies. There are all kinds of cleanings supplies needed such as bleach, Amonia, Windex, Pledge, Bathroom Cleaner, rags, mops, buckets, and a vacuum. Once these items are purchased, they will last for several houses and the vacuum should last for several years.

Taking and Setting up Appointments

A cleaning business must have a business phone. This phone should have an appointment book sitting next to it. The appointment book should be filled with your available work times. When a customer calls, you can easily see where he will fit. Take into account how long the job will take as some houses may need some light cleaning that takes 2 hours, and some may need the whole house cleaned, which could take 5 hours. Make sure your business phone comes equipped with an answering machine or voice mail so you can call customers back to set up appointments. Most cleaning businesses get repeat customers who set up a regular schedule such as every other Tuesday.

Employees

If a cleaning business gets more jobs than it can handle it should consider hiring more employees. The cleaning business needs to take a cut of all the jobs it sets up for the employees. An employee may be given a house to do that brings in $100. She would then need to give $20 to the cleaning business owner for setting up that job. The business owner could also pay the employee by the hour at a rate that is cheaper than what they are getting from the customer. Either way the business owner should be making money from the extra business it is contracting.

Contracts with Customers

We live in a day and age that is litigious. It would be wise for cleaning businesses to design a contract that all customers must sign. This is for the protection of both parties. The contract must state the amount of money required per hour each time the service is provided. It should state what the customer wants done.